Distributing apparatus  sou



March 23 1926.

J. G MACLAREN DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR CONVEYER SYSTEMS Original Filed March 26, 1920 Patented Mar. 23, 15926.

JAMES G. MACLAREN, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE LAMSON COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR CONVEYER SYSTEMS.

Original application filed March 26, 1920, Serial No. 369,084. Renewed March 9, 1925. Divided and.

this application filed March 11, 1925.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JAMES G. MAoLARnN, a citizen of. the United States of America, and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Distributing Apparatus for Conveyer Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to conveyer systems and more particularly to apparatus for distributing articles to various parts of a system in such a manner as to avoid undue accumulation of articles or clogging at any particular point, and while primarily in tended for embodiment in the central station of apneumatic despatch system is not neces sarily restricted to such specific use,the present application being a division of my pending application Serial No. 369,084, filed Ivlarch 26, 1920, renewed March 9, 1925.

In the accompanying drawings a .preferred embodimentof the invention is illustrated by way of example. v v

Fig. 1 being a fragmentary side elevation partly in section of one end of a conveyer apparatus embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 being a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 indicates anysuitable table or support, for example the operators desk of the central station of a pneumatic despatch system. This table or desk 1 supports a series of spaced vertical partitions 2, 3, 4i and 5 the number of such partitions being greater or less in accordance with the desired capacity of the apparatus. The spaces between adjacent partitions are closed at their tops by floor members 6, 7 and 8, respectively. These floor members are substantially horizontal and preferably extend from one end to the other of the desk structure.

The floor members 6, 7, and 8 support the upper runs 9, 10 and 11 respectively of endless belt conveyers, whose lower runs con veniently rest upon and are supported by the table 1. The floor members 6, 7 and 8 are preferably arranged at progressively in creasing heights above the table 1 so that the upper runs 9, 10 and 11 of the belt conveyers are disposed in stepped relation, the forward belt, as here illustrated, being the low- Serial No. 14,693.

est and succeeding belts being at higher levels.

The several belts pass about pulleys 12, 18 and 1 1 respectively which, as here shown, are mounted upon parallel shafts, although it is contemplated that they may be mounted upon the same shaft if desired. At their other ends the belts may be similarly supported and they are driven in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 1 by any suitable drive means, not shown.

The front vertical wall or partition 2 is extended above the belt .6 to provide the retaining wall. 15 which preferably extends to a height at least as great as that of the uppermost belt 11. i

The partitions 3 and 4 also extend above the floor members 7 and 8 respectively, and the partition 5extends above the floor 8. These upwardly extending partitions thus constitute the side walls of parallel troughlike guideways whose floors are formed respectively by the belts 9, 10 and 11. Preferably the partitions 8 and 1 terminate in outwardly deflected portions 16 and 16 respectively, whose edges are turned or inclined downwardly as indicated at 17 and 17 respectively to overhang the floors 6 and 7.

One or more article delivery means, for example, pneumatic despatch terminals 19 are arranged to deliver articles, such for example as cash carriers, onto the belt 11 -while similar or diiferent delivery means,

center of the belt 11 so that articles delivered through said terminals tend to fall upon the belt 11 at a point near that edge thereof which is disposed adjacent to the next lower belt. Similarly the terminals 20 and 20 are disposed to one side of the central vertical plane 23 of the belt 10. One or more of the terminals 19, 20 etc., is preferably arranged to turn about its own vertical axis so that the guide spout 21 at its lower end may be disposed as shown 'in'Fig. 1, or alternatively as shown in dotted lines at 22 in Fig. 2.

At the deliveryend of each belt there is arranged a hopper 26 for receiving carriers delivered from the end of the belt. In Fig. 1, but'a single hopper is illustrated it being understood that similar hoppers are provided for the belts 10 and 11. Each hopper delivers the articles which are fed into it into a tube 27 which in turn delivers them to a corresponding selector device 28 where the articles are sorted into classes in accord- I ance with some distinguishing characteristic. For example, if thearticles be cash carriers of the type used in'pneumatie despatch systems. this separation may be in accordance with the shape or configuration of the. head of the carrier.

; of any'desired length andlead. to any'desired pointof'discharge.

' As' herein illustrated the tube 30' is providedxatits-delivery end with a receptacle of tubular construction, comprising the substantially vertical upper portion 31' and the inclinedlower portion 32-. .The upper'portion "31 is "furnished with a lateral discharge opening 33, while the inclined portion 32 is furnished with adischarge opening 34inits upper surface. The-discharge. openings 3 and 34 are at opposite sides of thereceptacle as illustrated inFig. 1.

'Atflthe lower end of the receptacle a stop member or shelf 35 is provided. This shelf is so positionedthat a carrier 36 resting thereon is "readily: accessible through the ,opening134 for removalby the operator. The upper and lower'parts of the receptacle are. so. proportioned that when ,a carrier rests upon theshelf 35 its upperend is positionedapproximately at the level of the lower edge of the opening 33. I If, before a carrier 36 resting upon the shelf35-has been removed by the operator, a second carrier .38 is delivered into the receptacle,- such second carrier .will engage the head of the carrieri'36 substantiallyat the. point 37. and as the point of engagement is eccentrictothe axis of the. carrier'38 theulatten is caused to topple out through theopening 33.

. Preferably a conveyor .belt 39, running in a suitable'trough. 40, is disposed'beneath the opening33 so that articlesdelivered through .the latter will fall upon the belt and be conveyed to some convenient point.

"The operation of the device is substantiallyas follows, it being.assumed for convenience in description that the articles to be handled are cash carriers of" the usual form employed in pneumatic .despatch systems. If a carrier be delivered through the terminalv 19 it falls upon the belt 8 and is rapidly conveyed toward the corresponding hopper 26. If during its travel. beneath the terminal 19 another carrier should be delivered so as to .fall upon the'first carrier, such second carrier would land initheposition indicated at26 in Fig. 2 where it would The articles so segregated are delivered into the tubes '29 and '30 re- 1' spectively. Theseytubes 29 and 30 maybe 1 of the'nextlower belt, it will-rollover acar- -r1er always .restingupon said latterbelt and disposed in its path and will continue down -.onto.1the. next lowerguideway. This arrangement prevents accidental piling up of carnersupon one of the upper belts wh1ch --m1ght--occasion/clogging of the receiving hopper or possibly the dropping of a carrier from the receiving. hopper. NVhile carriers are herein mentioned, it is evidentthat an excessive quantity of material of any kind,

deposited upon an upper beltwill tend to spill over onto a lower belt, thus-auto- -matically distributing the load. "The belts are preferably run-at such a speedas to space successive articles suflicientlytopermit the separator device 28 to operate properly without jamming.

By turning one or more of the delivery terminals 19, etc. intothe position indicated at'22 in Fig. 2, carriers may be delivered directly onto a belt adjacent to theme upon which they normally would be delivered. Thus if there be a special sale in one department ofthe establishmentserved by the appliance, the increase volume of carriers delivered throughanyparticular set of tubes may be cared for Without congestion at the central station by setting the delivery terminals-so that carriers from one or more of the delivery terminals will be transmitted to operators who do not ordinarily serve these particular tubes.

Furthermore if the arrangement just described does "not suffice to distribute the carriers to a sufficient number of operators,

the arrangement shown at the lower part of Fig. 1 maybe employed to assist'in such distribution. For example, if the operator located at the receptacle 31 is unable to remove carriers from the shelf 35 as fast as received, surplus carriersare' automatically deliveredupon the-belt 39' and thus carried to another operators station or 0th erwise disposed of, soas to relieve the congestion. If the operator at the station served by the tube 30 should bec'alledaway temporarily, a dummy carriermay be placed in the position of the carrier36 of Fig.1 'WlllCll will result 1n deflecting all incoming tributor such as that indicated at 28 may be employed, particularly when the apparatus is used in connection with a pneumatic despatch system, such distributor may be dispensed with if desired without substantially affecting the operation of the other parts of the device.

t is also clear that by lengthening the lower part 32- of the receptacle at the lower end or tube 30, a greater number of articles may be supported therein at the same time.

In illustrating the invention 1 have shown three belt conveyers disposed in stepped relation, but I contemplate that a greater or less number may be employed and that under some circumstances the successive belts may ,first increase progressively in height above the table and then decrease in height toward the opposite side of the table. It is further to be understood that the delivery terminals 15 etc. are merely emblematic of any desired form of delivery means and that other means, such for example as belt conveyers, gravity-chutes, etc. might well be substituted under proper circumstances.

I claim: 7

1. A conveyer system comprising a plurality' of conveyer belts arranged side by side and in vertically stepped rotation, and.

means for delivering articles to said belts, the delivery means for each belt being so disposed as'to deliverarti'cles at a point nearer to the next lower belt than to the next more elevated belt. 7

2. A conveyer system comprising a plurality of parallel trough-like guideways disposed at different levels in stepped arrangement, a belt conveyer forming the floor of each guideway, and means for delivering articles into the upper of said 'uideways, said delivering means bein so disposed relatively to the central longitudinal axis of the guideway that an article deposited upon another article already resting upon the conveyer belt tends to roll down onto the belt of the adjacent lower guideway.

3. A conveyer system comprising a plurality of parallel trough-like guideways, said guide-ways being disposed at different levels in stepped arrangement, one side wall of an upper guideway inclining outwardly to overhang the next lower guid way.

ii. A conveyer system comprising means providing a plurality of parallel guideways along which articles may move, said guide ways being at different levels, and means for delivering articles to said guideways at points spaced longitudinally of the latter, said delivery means being so disposed relatively to the center lines of the respective guideways that an article fall ng upon another previously deposited on the guideway tends to spill over into the next lower guideway.

5. A conveyer system comprising a plu- 'ahty of parallel trough-like guideways, said -guideways being at different levels, means for moving articles deposited, within the guideways longitudinally of the latter, and means for depositing articles in one at least ofthe upper guideways at a point between the longitudinal center line of such guide- Way and that margin thereof disposed adjacent to the next lower guideway.

6. A conveyer system comprising a plurality of parallel gui-deways, each guideway being separated from the adjacent guideway by a division wall, the upper parts of said walls being flared outwardly away from one guideway and overhanging the next guideway.

7. A conveyer system comprising a plurality of parallel trough-like guideways disposed at differentlevels in stepped arrangement, adjacent guideways being separated by division walls, the upper part of each division wall being flared outwardly and then downwardly to overhang the lower guideway of a pair.

8. A conveyer system comprising a plurality of spaced vertical walls, said walls being of progressively greater height from one end of the series to the other, and an endless belt conveyer disposed within the space between each pair of adjacent walls, the upper runs of said conveyers being disposed at progressively higher levels from one end of the series to the other and constituting the floors of trough-like guideways.

9. A conveyer system comprising a plurality of belt con'veye s disposed in parallel relation, means for del'vering articles of various classes indiscriminately to each of said conve ers, means disposed at the end of each conveyer for receiving articles therefrom and for segregating said articles according to their respective classes, and a re ceptacle for articles of one class in which such articles may come to rest.

10. A conveyer system comprising a plu rality of parallel belt conveyers disposed at different levels in stepped arrangement, means for feeding art1cles to said conve or excess articles s illin from no er conveyers to those at lower levels, a receiving hopper at the end of each conveyer, a guide leading from the hopper, and a re ceiver at the end of the guide in which articles may come to rest.

11. A conveyer system comprising a belt conveyer for conveying articles of different kinds, a receiving hopper at the delivery end of the conveyer, a receptacle having delivery openings at different heights, and means for guiding articles received by the hopper to a separator for separating the articles according to their respective kinds and delivering articles of one kind only to the receptacle, articles entering the latter normally passing the upper opening and coming to rest near thelow'er opening;

12. A conveyor-system comprising a conveyer for articles, a receptacle provided-with vertically spaced delivery openings,means for directing articles delivered by theconveyer to the upper end of the receptacle, said articles normally passlngthe upper delivery opening, and a shelf for supporting" 13. A conveyer'system comprising a recep tacle for carriers, saidreceptaclehaVmg'an gularly disposed parts each provided with adischarge opening, and means for supporting one or more articles in one of said parts in such a position that further articles entering the receptacle will engage-an article resting'therein and fall out through the opening in the other part.

14. A eonveyer system comprising means for moving cylindrical carriers, areceptacle into which carriers are delivered successive- 1y, said receptacle comprising a substantially vertical upper part and an inclined lower part, each part having a discharge opening, andmeans for supporting a carrier in the lower part of the receptacle in such a position that another carrier, striking the upper end of 'firstnamed carrier, will topple out through the delivery opening in the upper part.

15. A eonveyer system comprising a receptac'le for cylindrical carriers, said receptacle having a'substantially vertical upper portion and an inclined lower portion, both portions having lateral delivery openings, said openings being at opposite sides of the receptacles, and a' supporting shelf at the lower end of thelower part of thereceptacle' ing in its side and a'tubular lower portion inclined away from the apertured sideof the upper-portion, and a stop at the lower endof'the lower portionpositioned to arrest a carrier in sueh'a position that it obstructs the passage through the receptacle and thereby cau'sesa following carrier'to topple out through the'delivery opening.

17 A conveyer system'comprising means for moving like carriers in succession, a receptae-leinto which such carriers are delivered, said receptacle providing a free and unobstructed passage for carriers, the re eeptac le having a plurality of delivery openings, means forreta'ining' a carrier within the receptacle in a position whereit is accessible for removal through one delivery opening,-and means disposed to receive carriers delivered through the other opening and to carry "them away from the receptacle.

Signed by me at Syracuse, New York, this 28th day of February, 1925.

JAMEse. MACLA-REN. 

